"He performed brilliantly well in his recent tour of southern Iraq and was one of the first to volunteer for the tour of Afghanistan," he said.

"His contribution in Helmand province in extremely challenging conditions has been second to none and those that know Draiva will not be surprised that he was killed in action, in the face of the enemy, defending his comrades and base.

"His death has been received with real sadness by his colleagues in Afghanistan and the rest of the battalion at Fort George, near Inverness."

Ranger Draiva's death takes the total number of UK troops killed while on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 to 22.